Ohhhhhhhh……………… things aren;t what they appear in Cards land…………. he was being set up as the goat…….. bet Tony didn’t discourage him……….. this is your problem…… BD will take another step toward invisibility……….. unless he cut the goat himself……… Lohse was offered the 13 large…. wonder if he takes it?

Yes, it is a conspiracy that McGwire’s family lives in LA. And then DeWitt. Fox and Selig convinced Magic to offer mcGwire a job. Which would seem to be a miracle in itself since you’ve made it clear to all of us what a lousy hitting coach McGwire is.

Lets just let this post stand…………and wonder why no one comes here anymore……… his family…right……… who do you think hooked him up to the Dodgers…….?????? not a solid offer from them yet?…….. Mark has some integrity…glad to see it……. You sit on this board like a bad smell Brazilian ………… Brian, your luck is about to change……..

I never cared if MM was any good as a hitting coach. It was awesome seeing him in the dugout.

Some time back, a couple winters ago, I talked about how the Cards were keeping themselves in the NYTimes most of the off season. The McGwire hiring was a big part of that. Letting him walk is a travesty. Bad juju.

Its not really………its what replaces him. ……… Mark let himself be compromised…… his leaving is either a sign of health……….or its opposite here…… that remains to be seem……. LA is going to be a high visibility org shortly…… Tony was likely his agent here…..and he hasn’t got that job yet.

Who knows? Jesus……..Cy Young……….win 12 games, make the All Star team…… take a trade at the break under control and out of the Market…….at his request……..make up the difference and more……. just skinning cats with new rules…….. catbird seat is rarely riding along with Scotty….never has been….

Kyle was fantastic for the Cards for 5 years. Scottie B and Mo were winners from their association.
Mo has to look ahead. Kyle is getting up there in baseball years and we do not mind freeing up budget. Also, Kyle can provide a high draft pick just for leaving town. We like helping guys earn big bucks and then saying thanks Kyle for the wonderful memories and for the draft pick.

Its the old buy low, sell high. Lohse had a great 2012, so his price is high. Its time to say thanks for the memories, Kyle!
Westbrook was ok in 2012, better than in 2011. We re-upped him for another year. Mo likes to settle some guys early, so there is less uncertainty later during the baseball labor market mad scramble.

Seems like a nice break for McGwire. He stuck around for a year to help transition after TLR left. But he’s a southern california guy, so should head home.
The Dodgers are showing respect by hiring him. Mark deserves it.

That’s kind of difficult because both have been team hopping and in an out of the minor leagues for a good part of the last three years. That is why I went with career WAR as a comparison. Ohman pitched 26 innings in 2012 with the White Sox, 0-2 with an ERA of 6.41, FIP was 6.28, K/9 was 4.39, WAR -0.4. Romero pitched 12 innings with 2 teams in 2012. 0-0 with an ERA of 9.00, FIP was 7.43. K/9 was 4.50, WAR -0.3

Honestly, there is very little difference between the two. Ohman is certainly not “much better” than Romero.

For once, I want to see the Cards get aggressive in signing minor league free agents – quality, not quantity. They have major holes at Memphis and could potentially reinforce StL’s bench. Take a look at the Roster Matrix.

Other organizations are already signing players. In recent years, it seems like the Cards haven’t done much until January and had to scramble during the season due to lack of depth when the inevitable injuries hit. It is time to change that.

Why would any AAAA guys sign with the Cardinals? Eugenio Velez had his butt stuck in AAA all season last year despite an .807 OPS and 37 SB while manning 2B, 3B, and RF when the major league club went through periods of questionable outfield and 2B depth?

Romero has double the career WAR of Ohman because he’s pitched double the innings. Romero has a career 4.58 xFIP and has been slipping in the past four years. Ohman has a career 4.16 FIP and has never had an xFIP higher than 4.45 in any season during which he reached 30 IP. He had one relatively bad, abbreviated season last year.

Furthermore, Ohman did have trouble against RHP in 2012 (.970 OPS), but excelled against LHP (.555 OPS). His career numbers against are .782 and .643.

In 2012, JC Romero had an opposing OPS of over 1.000 for both RHB and LHB.

Romero is completely washed up at this point. Ohman had one shaky season. Ohman is very much better than Romero at this point in their careers.

Ohman got unlucky in 2012 to have a 20% HR/FB when his career mark is 10.8%. His 48.9% GB% was actually much better than his career 40.7% mark.

He only tallied 4.39 K/9 in 2012, but kept his BB/9 down at 1.69. His 2011 and 2010 K/9 marks were both above 9 and his career mark is 8.57. He only walked 2.87 per 9 IP in 2011 and this is clearly an area in which he’s trending quite positively.

I am very much convinced that he’s still got it. I’d be happy if the Cardinals scooped him up.

This is a funny thread………. I wonder if all young players using these techniques would look seem more formidable early on, and yet never quite develop……..opening the way for the next young power hitters?

i dont see the holes at memphis from a starter’s standpoint. The pitching is overcrowded to begin with. The position players; i’d be satisified with 1B Adams/Scruggs 2B Wong SS Jackson/Garcia 3B Curtis OF swauger/Taveras/Pham (and probably Chambers) C Hill/Perez There may be a few depth issues but I wouldn’t want to push too many of those players out of the development cycle for a minor league FA.

I’d have to invest more time than I’m willing to do right now but I’m guessing most minor league FA signings that have turned in to something have been late signings. They are guys who are good to enough to think that they might get a major league deal and for whatever reason it doesn’t work out. Guys signing in November know they aren’t major league ready and i’d bet few get spring training invites.

Why not a minor league FA veteran C as depth for Audry Perez at AAA in 2013.Steven Hill might not return and if he does he`s a better hitter than a Catcher.or a vet FA with some MLB experience who can help the young pitchers at AAA.